Read Online Rogue Angel 53: Bathed in Blood by Alex Archer - Free Book Online Page A

wrong.”
    Then he held his breath. This was the moment. If she told him to deal with it, he was all right. He would do as required and that would be that. But if she said she needed time to consider the issue or that she was sending someone else to handle the problem, then he would need to cut and run as swiftly as possible. The cleanup crew would have orders to eliminate any potential threat or loose end and, given what he knew, he would be priority number one for both.
    The silence stretched and he was starting to think about putting down the phone and getting out while he still could when she finally spoke.
    “Send me what you can dig up on this Creed person. Keep an eye on her but do not take any other measures until I tell you to do so. This may actually play to our advantage.”
    He let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, cleared his throat and said, “Of course.”
    She hung up the phone without another word, the dial tone suddenly loud in his ear.
    He didn’t mind.
    Escaping her wrath for another day was good enough.

8
    “What do you mean, ‘girls’?” Annja asked. “Has there been more than one?”
    Brigitta nodded. “Of course. The Blood Countess needs many victims to fill her bath, doesn’t she?”
    She seemed to think Annja was crazy for asking the question. But Detective Tamás had made no mention of any other woman murdered in such a fashion. Could it be that he didn’t know? Or had he been playing his cards close to his vest, not wanting to tip his hand when Annja was still a suspect?
    “Tell me about them.”
    But this time Brigitta wasn’t as forthcoming.
    “Oh, no,” she said. “We had a deal. I translate for you and you tell me what you know about the woman from the press conference. Spill it. Then I’ll tell you about the others.”
    Not the type to back out on a deal, Annja reluctantly did as she was asked. She told Brigitta about her visit to Csejte Castle and about how she’d helped rescue the now-deceased woman on the road back to Nové Mesto. She left out the details, giving a broad overview of what had happened, but the teenager sat spellbound throughout, reminding Annja that not everyone would have climbed down the rocky slope to rescue the poor woman.
    When she was finished, Annja said, “Now your turn.”
    Brigitta launched into her tale with enthusiasm.
    “Okay, so my friend’s cousin knew a girl who heard that the police found a woman murdered in Kočocve, which is about an hour from here. All the blood had been drained from her body.”
    “Your cousin’s friend?”
    “No, my friend’s cousin,” Brigitta corrected her, not even noticing the look of disbelief on Annja’s face.
    She went on, “And there was this other killing, about four months ago, I think, that I heard about from this girl on Facebook. I don’t know her or anything, but we’re friends on Facebook, you know? She told me that hikers found a woman’s body totally drained of blood and left in the middle of the woods outside of Trenčín. Can you believe that?”
    No, Annja couldn’t. Rumors weren’t going to help her. She tried to get some concrete facts.
    “Do you know the names of the victims?”
    Brigitta shook her head.
    “Do you know the names of the people who told you about them?”
    “Well, no. They’re just people I know, you know?”
    Uh-huh.
    “So how do you know they’re telling the truth?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “How do you know the bodies were really found?”
    “Why would they lie about something like that?” Brigitta asked.
    Annja could think of at least a dozen reasons, including trying to impress the naive and rather good-looking teen who was sitting across from her waiting for an answer. Not that saying so would do any good.
    She wasn’t going to get anywhere with this, she decided. She should cut her losses and get back to work. At least she now knew what was said in the press conference.
    “Perhaps you’re right,” she said, smiling to take